KOTA KINABALU: The Traditional and Complementary Medicine Practitioners Association of Sabah (TCMAS) will continue its effort to reduce dependency on foreign workers in Sabah’s spa and reflexology industry.
Its president Datin Dorothea Justin said a total of six beauty centres under TCMAS provide wellness and spa training under the monitoring of the Department of Skills Development.
“We understand the current situation in Sabah where many of the beauty centres depending on foreign workers to run their businesses. Most of them claim that local therapists are less loyal to their centres even though they have higher salaries and commission.
“The reason we are promoting local therapists is to train them in our beauty centres to ensure they will have the certificate recognised by the Ministry of Human Resources under the Department of Skills Development which will allow them to have higher chances of being employed in well-known beauty centres,” she said when speaking to reporters at the association’s briefing at Klagen Hotel here yesterday.
She said about 60 corporate members under TCMAS were trying their best to comply with the rules and regulations set by the government but some of the issues they were dealing with would need attention from the relevant authorities.
During the closed-door briefing yesterday, Dorothea said among the updates being discussed with representatives of government departments were the usage of certain words in beauty centres and implementation of the minimum wage.
She said most industry players agreed to comply with the minimum wage implementation as long as the RM800 minimum wage in Sabah includes the basic salary and commission.
“With the implementation of the minimum wage, we are confident that more local therapists will venture into this industry, especially with the existence of more training centres which will help them to have proper education and knowledge for these particular skills.
“TCMAS is working closely with the government agencies and will ensure its members are updated on the laws, current situations and the demand in this industry. I believe more training centres will be approved by the ministry this year,” she added.